This is a dumb question and is my ignorance but -

are all basic ball hitches pretty much the same? Are there better ones or worse ones or doesn’t it really make a difference?
need a basic hitch to tow a 17ft small John boat and small landscape trailer.
weight of these trailers is not a concern.

id really like to get a black ball hitch, but I hear they don’t last and they scratch and then rust.

 

No, they are not all the same. They have ratings stamped on them.

Yes, the black paint scraps off easily.

 

 

Shop Amazon, and read all the choices. There are black coatings that don't come off.

 

I should've clarified... I do know there are different ratings for weight...

I was more asking if the quality of them are all roughly the same... a $25 2" bought at autozone or somewhere like that vs. A $50 "brand name" ball

 

On something like you’re describing, there’s no need to bend the wallet. I (like many guys, I’m sure) have had dozens of trucks spanning thirty-plus years. And everyone of them had a receiver hitch, and a hitch/ball to slip into it when needed. I’ve NEVER had an issue with any of them. NEVER. Pulled small utility trailers, car trailers, boats, you name it... for hundreds of thousands of miles. Just make sure the ball is tight, and the pin is firmly clipped.

 

Sure. How much do you want to pay for the name?

 

Go to WalMart, get whatever meets your needs. They all are rated at safety standards that exceed your mentioned requirements. Paint is cheap, touch it up. Highly recommend NOT leaving on truck.. Someone bumps you, it can and will mess up your hitch and frame.

 

As others have said, hitches with the same ball size often have different weight ratings. Look at the ratings of both the ball mount and the ball itself. The ball mount should have both a max weight carrying and max trailer weight rating. The Ball will just have a max trailer rating.

Last year a guy towing a boat at Lake Cumberland had a ball fail. The boat ended up in a ditch on the side of the road and was totaled. Even a good quality ball and ball mount are cheap, buy a good one and be done /w it.

 

If you buy a quality adjustable hitch, you'll be able to tow anything within capacity. If you buy a fixed height hitch for your current trailer, inevitably you'll end up towing something else and the hitch will be too low or too high.

There are lots of quality hitches availailable. The aluminum adjustable ones are feather light, and rated well beyond the capacity of my truck.

I'm using an Anderson Rapid Hitch.

https://andersenhitches.com/Catalog/rapid-hitch.aspx